To the higher-ups at Shrek Academy, being an orphan also meant that Zheng Li would likely stay at the academy in the future. In other words, he was more worth cultivating than someone like Dai Huabin, who came from a prominent family.
Once his secret was exposed, his Spirit Bone might not be guaranteed, but his Spirit Rings certainly would be. He'd also receive a greater share of the academy's resources.
Who would pay attention to someone with no potential or ability?
There were certainly drawbacks, but overall, the benefits outweighed the costs!
Hmm... He was getting ahead of himself. The main thing right now was Xiao Nai's "name."
After lowering his head to think for a moment, Zheng Li's eyes lit up.
He filled in "Spirit of Light," then wrote "Heart of Spirit" after it. After a brief pause, he added "Second Martial Soul."
He had a feeling that Teacher Jin wasn't too bright, and might lump "Spirit of Light" and "Heart of Spirit" together as a single Martial Soul.
Teacher Jin: I think you're insulting my intelligence!
After he finished filling it out, Yuan Qin said, "Go to the New Student Teaching Building to register, sign up, and pick up your uniform and the like."
"Okay, thank you, teacher." Zheng Li smiled and said goodbye before heading toward the school gate.
Teacher Jin picked up Zheng Li's information form and looked at the Martial Soul section first. He was quite curious about Zheng Li's Martial Soul.
"Spirit of Light?"
After glancing at the entry, Teacher Jin looked up at Zheng Li's white-and-gold outfit and the strange golden ring behind his head. He muttered, "It does have a bit of a spirit's feel to it."
"Teacher Jin, have you ever seen a spirit?" Yuan Qin hadn't looked at the form, but she'd heard him and couldn't help asking curiously.
Teacher Jin frowned. "I don't think so. Come to think of it, do spirits really exist? And even if they do, wouldn't they count as Spirit Beasts?"
Yuan Qin: "..."
What do you mean, "I don't think so"?
"Haha, don't worry about the details," Teacher Jin said with a laugh. "This kid wrote something else besides Spirit of Light in the Martial Soul section. Did he put it in the wrong column? Let me see what it says."
Zheng Li, walking through the school gate: As expected...
"Heart of Spirit, Second Martial Soul..."
Teacher Jin and Yuan Qin froze.
A Second Martial Soul?
"Holy crap! Kid, get back here!"
Teacher Jin's shout didn't reach Zheng Li.
He was pretty fast in his combat state, and by now he had already entered Shrek Academy and gone quite a distance.
However, Teacher Jin and Yuan Qin soon caught up with him.
"Is something the matter, teachers?" Zheng Li asked.
Teacher Jin still looked astonished. "Kid, do you have Twin Martial Souls?"
"Yeah!" Zheng Li replied as if it were obvious. "Is there a problem, teacher?"
Teacher Jin and Yuan Qin: "..."
There's no problem, but why does your expression annoy us so much?
"No problem." Teacher Jin shook his head, then asked, puzzled and curious, "Kid, what kind of Martial Soul is that Heart of Spirit?"
Zheng Li: As expected, this teacher doesn't seem too bright.
"It means what it says: a heart!" Zheng Li answered. "I just gave it a nice-sounding name."
Of course, it wasn't that simple. He still needed to keep some things to himself.
"Heart..." Yuan Qin furrowed her brows. She had considered the possibility just now. As far as she knew, no one on the continent had ever possessed an internal-organ-type Martial Soul. Maybe she was just ignorant.
How could someone develop a Heart Martial Soul? As an assault type? Agility type? Support type? Defense type? Control type? Or something else?
This was tricky!
What if he accidentally made his heart explode?
Teacher Jin had clearly thought of the same problem.
After a brief silence, Teacher Jin said, "Kid, we'll walk you over."
With that, he picked Zheng Li up with one big hand and headed for the New Student Teaching Building, where students registered and signed up.
Yuan Qin hurried after them.
Hmm... Teacher Jin was very enthusiastic. With his help, Zheng Li quickly finished registering and signing up, paid ten Gold Soul Coins in tuition, and received a New Student Badge, two white uniforms, and a dorm key.
When Zheng Li got the uniforms, his only thought was: Finally, I have some clothes!
Sigh~ It's a long story!
As they parted ways, Teacher Jin asked curiously, "Kid, why are you still releasing your Martial Soul? There's no need to rush now, is there?"
Zheng Li explained.
Teacher Jin and Yuan Qin were both speechless. All they could say was that he was a weirdo!
They'd never seen a Martial Soul that came with its own clothes—or, rather, one that was itself part of the clothes.
They'd thought the so-called Spirit of Light was just the strange golden ring behind Zheng Li's head.
After parting from them, Zheng Li went to look at the notice board. It listed the class assignments.
Zheng Li admired how efficient they were. He'd just finished registering, and the classes had already been assigned.
He quickly found his name.
"Zheng Li... Freshman Class Five?"
"Class Five? I'm not in the same class as the protagonist?"
Zheng Li frowned, then left without giving the class assignment much thought.
He had no plans to cling to someone powerful, so it didn't matter whether they were in the same class.
The sky gradually darkened, and the golden glow from Zheng Li's body drew plenty of attention.
He couldn't completely suppress the light. Even when he tried, a faint glow remained.
Completely suppress it... That was probably impossible. How could he hide a golden ring that gave off light?
Even if Zheng Li ran out of Soul Power, his Martial Soul would probably only retract automatically!
At night, this Martial Soul made him a walking light bulb—there was no way to keep a low profile.
At the dorm entrance, hmm, he didn't see Mu En.
His dorm room was number 111.
Zheng Li: "???"
He wasn't a bachelor!
With the dorm number practically mocking him, Zheng Li found his room and went inside.
The moment he opened the door—
"Meow?" A boy who was using something like a feather duster to clean the walls turned around. He had green eyes, gray hair, fair skin, and a cute face.
A pair of white cat ears sat atop his head, and a black-and-gray tail stretched out behind him.
A catgirl? No, a catboy, right?
Zheng Li: "..."
When the catboy saw Zheng Li, a surprised expression appeared on his face. "Roommate?"
Zheng Li nodded. "That's right. Hello, I'm Zheng Li."
Seeing Zheng Li confirm it, the catboy looked delighted. "Hi, I'm Ling Nan. I didn't expect to get a roommate. I arrived pretty late, and no one showed up even after enrollment ended just now. I thought I'd have the whole room to myself."
Zheng Li thought that having a room to himself sounded great. It beat sharing a small dorm room with eight people back in junior high.
"I'm late too. I only just made it before enrollment ended," Zheng Li replied with a smile. "Are you cleaning? Let me help."
Ling Nan didn't refuse. He laughed cheerfully. "Sure. I bought cleaning supplies. I've already cleaned the cabinets, beds, tables, and floor. Only the walls are left."
Zheng Li looked around and said, "You did it in the wrong order. You should have cleaned the walls first. Forget the floor—the bed's gotten dusty again."
Ling Nan: "..."
He took a look. Zheng Li was right.
"Haha, I've never done housework at home..." Ling Nan said, a little embarrassed.
Zheng Li shook his head and said nothing.
As they chatted, Ling Nan finished cleaning the walls. Afterward, Zheng Li took the initiative and cleaned the floor and beds again.
Since Ling Nan had already cleaned them once, it was much easier.
Ling Nan had kept his Martial Soul active because he couldn't reach the ceiling, even standing on the table. He could jump up to reach it, but he was afraid of breaking the table. The same went for the bed.
Zheng Li realized that Ling Nan was even shorter than he was.
That was saying something, given that people on Douluo Continent were generally tall. Many ten-year-old children were already one and a half meters tall, and plenty of eleven- and twelve-year-olds were over 1.7 meters!
So Ling Nan had activated his Martial Soul. A cat Martial Soul meant lightness, agility, and a strong jumping ability.
Still, seeing him jump around with his Martial Soul to clean the walls left Zheng Li a little speechless.
After they finished cleaning, Ling Nan put away his Martial Soul, but Zheng Li didn't.
Ling Nan naturally asked about it. After Zheng Li explained, Ling Nan gave him a strange look.
Zheng Li's mouth twitched: You think I want this?!
When it was time to sleep, another problem came up.
Seeing Zheng Li lying flat on the bed boards, Ling Nan asked in confusion, "Didn't you bring any bedding?"
Zheng Li spread his hands. "No. To be honest, these two uniforms are all the luggage I have right now. I do have money, though."
"There's a Student Supplies Store outside the dorms... Never mind, don't bother buying any. I have some extra. You can use it."
"Thanks. I'll treat you to a meal tomorrow."
"No need to be so polite. You're my roommate, after all, and my first friend since coming to Shrek." Ling Nan smiled.
He looked so cute, like a girl.
Zheng Li nodded and didn't say anything more.
It was honestly a little unfair... He wasn't about to mistake Ling Nan for a girl, since Ling Nan had just taken all his clothes off right in front of him.
Don't misunderstand. He hadn't taken everything off.
A mattress, an unfamiliar animal-fur blanket, and a thick, soft quilt.
Zheng Li couldn't help thinking: He's rich.
The ten thousand Gold Soul Coins the system gave him seemed like a lot, but in reality, it wasn't much. It couldn't even buy a decent Soul Tool.
After that, they lay in bed and chatted for a while.
From Ling Nan, Zheng Li learned that he came from Heaven Dou City, the capital of the Heaven Dou Empire, and belonged to a fairly prominent sect. Ling Nan didn't know what the sect was called.
From the way Ling Nan talked, his status in the sect wasn't low.
After they finished chatting, Ling Nan chose to sleep.
Zheng Li sat cross-legged, with no intention of cultivating.
It was time to begin cultivating the Spirit Sutra.
Was sleep as good as cultivation? Besides, cultivation could take the place of sleep.
Classmate, Your Girlfriend... Spirit Sutra: A cultivation method that complements the Heart of Spirit.
Before you continue